Amazing That There Are Not More

Te Ao Hou, June 1965, Page 9

Amazing That There Are Not More In conclusion may I say that considering the tremendous upheavals which, from the turn of the century, the Maori has had to face— 1. Dispossession of his lands. 2. Depletion in numbers from disease and warfare. 3. The dispersal and detribalisation of his society. 4. The new predominantly juvenile component of his race. 5. His comparatively limited economic resources. 6. The breakdown of his social patterns. 7. His living by permission of the dominant group. 8. His loss of appreciation of the religious concept. 9. His lack of skills and knowledge of how to adjust to a new and oft-times hostile society. 10. Plus the extreme hazards which he faces along with all other adolescents. Considering all this, the amazing thing is that more of them do not become delinquents who require the attention of the law, since they are by nature and inheritance, so utterly group-orientated. Any programme of any institution of any kind therefore should have as one of its principal aims, the promotion of a sense of belonging not merely to a local village, a local neighbourhood or a racial group, but to a nation, and ultimately to all ethnic groups and all humanity. Finally may I say that I have presented the extremist view, in order to promote controversy and stimulate discussion. However, I do contend that it is not what the Maori has inherited from his past that makes him a potential delinquent, but what he has lost; for he comes almost empty-handed to this modern, post-Christian era of the organisation man. This article is the text of a talk given by the Rev. Manu Bennett at a meeting of the Whakatane Prisoners' Aid and Rehabilitation Society.